Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Those of you who've been reading my blog for some time will know that I eat a mostly vegetarian diet (plus occasional seafood) and am a BIG fan of vegetarian and vegan cooking. One of my long-time favorite blogs has been Veggie num num, written by the wonderful Trudy from Australia. Not only does she take gorgeous photos, she also creates the most creative vegetarian recipes. They're guaranteed to have you drooling whether you're a veggie or meat-lover! I tried her Spanish Chickpea Balls a few months ago and was captivated by the unique spicing. Equally mesmerizing is the savory lentil, pomegranate, and mint tart she's sharing today, which -- believe it or not -- was adapted from a lamb recipe! I'll let her tell you all about it now. Thanks for your stunning guest post and for being such an inspiration to me, Trudy!

I have to say I am a little excited to be here! Without a doubt I am a devoted fan of 6 Bittersweets and Xiaolu’s beautiful inspiring desserts and photography and so thrilled and honoured to be guest posting today!!

I am constantly blown away with Xiaolu’s clever and amazingly scrumptious looking recipes. Her talent for creating truly beautiful and imaginative food is absolutely inspiring. So my first thought when I started to brainstorm ideas for a recipe to share was it must be something elegant and pretty and of course delicious.

Being a vegetarian it can be hard to convince people that you eat interesting, varied and delicious foods. I still think there is a popular misconception out there that vegetarian food is boring and plain and can’t be inspiring and tasty and beautiful in it’s own right.

There is nothing I love more than turning this idea on its head and providing vegetarian recipes that I really hope everyone finds delicious and appealing!!

I had been meaning to experiment with a vegetarian version of a Lebanese tart for some time and thought this post would be the perfect opportunity to do just that. Something I find so rewarding in the kitchen is to take a traditional meat dish and transform it into a vegetarian meal. I love the challenge and the fun of experimenting with different ingredients and flavours and this tart did not disappoint.

Middle Eastern flavours are some of my absolute favourites and this dish is wonderfully fragrant, spicy, colourful and I hope you’ll agree super tasty.

Thank you so very much Xiaolu for the opportunity to share this veggie recipe and I hope you’ll all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating and photographing it for you.

Bring the stock, lentils, bay leaves and cinnamon stick to a gentle simmer in a large pot, allow to cook for 15-20 minutes over a medium/low heat, stirring occasionally until the lentils are tender and liquid absorbed. Remove the bay leaves and cinnamon stick and strain off any excess liquid, set aside.

Grind the black peppercorns, salt flakes or rock salt, cumin, paprika and coriander seeds together in a mortar & pestle or spice grinder to form a fine spice powder.

Combine the pomegranate molasses with the warm water until smooth, set aside.

Lay the thawed puff pastry sheet out on a baking tray, carefully score a 3cm (1 inch) border around the outside and brush with the prepared egg or non-dairy milk being careful not to brush over the score mark.

Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until the pastry just begins to puff and golden, remove from the oven and set aside.

Meanwhile fry off the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes over a medium heat in a large frying pan until soft, add the cooked lentils and prepared spice powder and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes over a medium heat.

Add the pomegranate molasses & water mixture and the pine nuts, fry the lentils until they just begin to brown and stick to the bottom of the pan, add the fresh herbs reserving half the mint and stir though.

Spoon the lentil mixture onto the prepared puff pastry sheet, sprinkle over the sumac and return to the oven for 15 minutes until pastry is golden.

Meanwhile whisk the tahini paste with the olive oil, lemon juice and water until smooth.

Remove the tart from the oven a serve sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and reserved mint. Accompany with the tahini dressing and wedges of fresh lemon.

A wonderfully colourful and tasty vegetarian recipe perfect for parties or picnics, enjoy!!

{This recipe was inspired by the Spicy Lebanese Lamb Tart found in ABC’s Delicious Magazine.}

Trudy, I love pomegranate seeds and can't wait to make your lentil tart for Bob and me. Thank you too for introducing me to Xiaolu's beautiful blog. I know someone special who will be in raptures over such delicious baking. Your photographs are really great (as are Xiaolu's). Thanks. Erica

Hi Xialolu, This is looking absolutely delightful. Loved the new combo of ingredients and the recipe is so nicely made and presented. Saving this recipe of urs and wud love to give ur version a try on the coming weekend. Have a great day….Sonia !!!